In the prior art, solenoid type relays are known which are adapted to be fastened to a printed circuit board and in which two movable plunger armatures carry their respective contacts into engagement when the coil is energized. Also known in the prior art is a solenoid relay in which a contact carried on the pole face of a stationary core member mates with a contact carried by a movable armature. In this solenoid relay structure, a spring disc supports and biases the armature for movement toward and away from the stationary core.
It is also known in the prior art to use a spring clip to secure a relay or other device on a printed circuit board.
Because printed circuits have generally been used in situations where space is a prime consideration, electromagnetic relays have not widely been mounted on printed circuits because of their size. Small relays have been developed specifically for the purpose of mounting on printed circuit boards. However, these relays suffer from the drawback that their current carrying capacity is somewhat less than desirable or the printed circuit board mounting is complicated and/or unreliable.